


Piecing Together

by water_bby



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Community: kakairu_fest, KakaIru Month 2015, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-04
Packaged: 2018-04-07 14:00:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4265883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/water_bby/pseuds/water_bby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iruka doesn't expect to ever meet an ANdroid Battle Unit. The ANBU HOUND01, however, has a different plan.</p>
<p>written for the June 30 prompt for the Kakairu Fest Summer 2015 round</p>
            </blockquote>





	Piecing Together

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Pieces of Me, Pieces of You](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/125325) by tsuyume. 



Iruka had his hands buried in a fairly pedestrian engine, the kind he could fix in his sleep, when the pounding on his door started.

"Come in!" he shouted, fingers continuing to tighten nuts until he could be certain the pieces would hold together until he could have a go with a wrench.

"Umm, Mr. Umino? There's an ANBU ship on its way in, and they keep asking for directions to you."

Iruka stared at the kid in his doorway. This planet was well away from both the front and the more populated planets with their specialized repair shops. There was no reason for any of the ANdroid Battle Units to be coming here. There was no reason for any ANBU to know his name, except....

"How many? And is their control with them?" But why would Kakashi come here? It wasn't like they'd made any promises to one another.

"No, we don't think so. Just three ANBU. Though one is pretty banged up, it seems. Maybe they've heard that you're the best mechanic here?" The kid seemed to be getting more excited and less worried, which was probably good, but Iruka didn't want anyone asking questions right now.

"Give them the coordinates for my landing pad. I'll get my flyer out of the way." Iruka shooed the kid out of the door. "I'll be in touch in a day or two. It sounds like I may be up all night, so tell the folks not to worry."

They'd still worry. ANBU were fairy tale monsters out here. The only thing scarier than the androids who were the elite soldiers in the war that had lasted longer than Iruka had been alive were the ANBU control officers, the men and women who provided both the physical and mental templates on which the ANBU were modeled.

Iruka hadn't told anyone that he'd had a lover who was ANBU control. He didn't need the strange half-worship, half-avoidance that had followed the affair and that had led him to change planets half a year ago. He hadn't known how to contact Kakashi. Not that he had any reason to believe that it had been more than a shore leave affair, after all.

The ANBU ship was small, probably designed for ferrying no more than two or three units from planet to planet or battleship. The pilot was doing well enough, to judge from the lightness of the touchdown.

Iruka waited for the door to unseal and start to open before he approached. "I'm Iruka Umino. I was told...." Iruka stopped. Three figures looked at him, all with Kakashi's wild white hair and red electronic eye. It was one thing to know that there were androids that looked like Kakashi, but to see them was a punch to Iruka's gut, especially when the one in the middle was missing part of an arm, cut open across the chest, and clearly not responsive. A human wouldn't have survived. But Kakashi had obviously loved his ANBU, so how would he react to having one so damaged? And, Iruka reminded himself, they still shouldn't be here.

The ANBU to the right growled, "Bull needs good help, and the Boss thinks you're the best there is."

"Bull? Sorry, sorry. Come this way." Iruka turned his back on the three ANBU and went back into his workshop, making room for the damaged (injured?) ANBU to sit. Did individual ANBU have names, in addition to their designation and numbers? He'd never heard of such a thing, but it would make sense of some of Kakashi's stranger stories if the friends he'd been talking about weren't quite human.

The ANBU followed, placing their injured companion on the floor (Iruka was going with injured for now). Then they helped Iruka attach the various tubes and wires that would keep track of the android's system while Iruka worked. "He took a pretty hard knock to the head," the one growled, "and it knocked the Boss out, too, so you'll probably need to reboot him."

Iruka blinked. Rebooting was supposed to be a rather delicate procedure on the ANBU, especially when they were linked with their control, but the growling one (his identification plate read HOUND01) didn't seem worried about it.

"So, if this is Bull, who are you?" Iruka asked while he grabbed the tools he'd need to access the software control center in the ANBU's head.

"Pakkun. That's Bisuke. He's the pilot." Pakkun stared at Iruka. "You know the Boss likes you a lot. You should have let him know you were moving."

Iruka stared. "I didn't have any way to contact him." He didn't say he wasn't sure if he would have if he could.

"We'll fix that before we leave. Can't have the Boss pining, after all. It's annoying."

"Don't you think that should be Kakashi's decision?"

"Well, he'll have to wake up and get here first, so until then, I'll make the decisions. Reboot's simple, but watch out for the left arm."

Iruka jumped away from the arm that suddenly jerked back towards him while the other two ANBU laughed. Apparently, ANBU came with personalities. It was going to be a long couple of days.

\---

Shortly after the ANBU ship landed on Iruka's pad, the medics on the battleship Konoha managed to awaken control officer Kakashi Hatake. Hatake was prone to riding his ANBU further down than most controls, so they'd done this before. Never before, though, did they have to do it without knowing where the damaged ANBU was.

Two hours later, Kakashi was explaining to his commanding officer that his ANBU had chosen to use a civilian mechanic to repair the damaged HOUND02. He decided now wasn't the time to tell her that his ANBU had also decided to play matchmaker. Some things should stay in the family, after all.


End file.
